At a glance, Pitch Perfect, the story of an all-female college a capella group’s attempts to win at Nationals, seems like just another Glee copycat. Thankfully, it turns out to be a lot more than that. A cast of up-and-coming female comedy actresses leads this surprisingly funny film: Anna Kendrick plays her usual role of the kooky, quirky fish-out-of-water, whereas Rebel Wilson plays her usual role of Rebel Wilson (this time, she’s even allowed to keep her own accent!). It’s a formula that works for both of them, but it’s unclear as to how long they’ll be able to continue playing the same tropes before it gets a bit stale. However, it hasn’t got to that point yet, and there are plenty of laughs to be found in this film. Providing the eye-candy this time is seasoned stage actor and newcomer to the silver screen Skylar Astin, whose character seems to have been cobbled together from Cosmo’s ‘What Do You Look For In Your Man?’ surveys. Boasting a clever script and a genuinely impressive soundtrack, Pitch Perfect deserves to be removed from the Glee subgenre and viewed as an enjoyable film in its own right.

Funnier than you might expect, the film is full of laugh-out-loud moments, the highlights of which are the unscripted improvisations by Rebel Wilson. There are also some almost overbearingly endearing scenes between Kendrick and Astin, which provide laughter as well as the realisation that your own relationship will never be quite as adorable. Sometimes, however, the film seems to attempt a more crass sense of humour, a la Bridesmaids, and it just doesn’t work in the context of the script. A later scene involving copious amounts of vomit fails to deliver many laughs at all. The pacing towards the end of the film also feels a little off; so much time is dedicated to the performances of the other competitors at the various competitions that the group take part in that there’s precious little time for actual plot development. The ending itself feels so rushed that it’s almost a let-down. After two hours, you’d expect an ending with a little oomph, but instead it just falls flat.

Pitch Perfect is an enjoyable film, but you get the feeling they could have cut out a good twenty minutes here and there and extended the ending. The rest of the film is such good fun that it’s a shame it’s let down by an uninspiring conclusion. You’ll definitely be tapping your toes and humming to yourself as you leave the cinema, but you’ll also probably be left with a hollow feeling and the impression that there was just something missing.

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